Living in the Light: An Interview with Lois Dinshah
by Deni Gross
When I was six or seven, I was playing in the yard with my brother, who is one year younger than I am. We got our ball stuck on the roof. We told our mother. She said for us to pray about it and maybe it would come down overnight. I did pray about it, and it did come down. From then on, I often talked to God. I liked to sit on my bed and look out the window and just talk to God. – Lois Dinshah
For some people, the veils between the worlds, or the different planes of existence, appear much thinner than they do for others, allowing glimpses into other realms and, sometimes, contacts with their inhabitants. These types of people also seem, from a very early age, to easily grasp the concept of spiritual “Light” and to establish a rapport with it. Our fellow TRIUNE member and a Quaker, Lois Dinshah, is one of those people, and her entire life has been lived in service to the Light.
DG: Lois, please tell us about your early years in California and some of the things that influenced you, before you had yet clearly defined your spiritual beliefs.
When I was 19, I started receiving messages like people are supposed to get during worship in Quakerism. I didn't know anything about Quakers yet. The messages were mostly about me and future happenings. Another thing that happened when I was 19 was that my mother told me about the Light. She got the information from Theosophy. This is the Light that is in everyone. Even though it wasn't thought to be the Quaker Inner Light, it is essentially the same thing. I started using it for guidance and protection. Many years later, I started using it for many other things, including healing. In 1957, I followed my mother in joining the Theosophical Society and have been a member ever since. One of the early teachings I had there was about our seven bodies: physical, emotional, mental, higher mental, and the three causal bodies, the higher spiritual bodies.
DG: The year 1962 figures prominently in your background for several reasons. Can you tell us about this?
In 1962, I was working at Travelodge in El Cajon, California. The first prayer partner I remember was also a bookkeeper there. Her name was Rosemary. We used to spend break times and lunch together. When we met, we would pray together. We would first pray for ourselves, so that we had the extra blessings to send blessings to others. Then we would pray for those near to us, then further: the state and those in state government, the United States and federal government, then other countries and their governments. We came up with what I call some spiritual games. We would bless each item we looked at while shopping, so that whoever also looked at it and whoever bought it would get a blessing. Of course, we sent blessings to ambulances, emergency vehicles and accidents. Also, when we were riding in cars, we would hold our hands out with fingers pointing outwards so that people along the side of the street would get a blessing. We would send blessings in any way that we could think of. This is my first and most memorable prayer partnership.
Also in 1962 I became a vegetarian, because of the Vita Flex class I took (from Stanley Burroughs), which was a form of healing. We learned about what different foods can do for or against the body. We learned about how meat can keep your body from being clear and slow your attempts at spiritual development. We learned how to give a massage. We learned about healing with colors. It covered quite a bit.
That same year, I was in a group that went to Dr. Hohense's lectures about natural health and natural healing. He sold a vegetable and rice steamer that sold for $50. I wanted one but couldn't afford it. In those days, $50 was a lot of money. I was a woman who had two young children and worked full-time. I went through divorce as soon as I could afford it. Well, the Food and Drug Administration put Dr. Hohense in jail for “practicing medicine without a license.” The group I was with wanted to let the public know about what happened. The leader asked for a volunteer to type up information on an electric typewriter and put it on a mimeograph to print it to pass it out to people. This was before copy machines. No one else volunteered, so I did. When I went to the address given to me to type the papers, Jay, the man who I was supposed to meet there, wasn't home yet. Instead, his brother, Roshan, met me at the door. Roshan took me to the typewriter and showed me the things I was to use. Then he left.
Eventually, Jay, Freya and Roshan all left San Diego in September, 1963. I wrote to the three of them. Freya had Roshan write to me, and we corresponded for a while. Sometime during this time-frame, I got the message that something would happen June 20, 1965 that would change my life. I had also gotten the message before this that I would go east. I didn't know how far east, or where. On June 20, I was listening for my phone and watching my mailbox. Nothing happened that day, nor the next. Then the following day, I received a letter from Roshan asking me to marry him. I didn't know what to do, so after putting the two kids to bed, I went out under the stars on the kids’ swing and asked God what I should do. I heard the answer in my head: “That's where you belong.” Not, yes you should marry him, etc.; but, “that's where you belong.” It was a week before Roshan had a reply to his question. He later said that it was the longest week of his life! I eventually came to Malaga, New Jersey to be with Roshan – in early August, 1965; and we were married on August 14, 1965. Now we have six children who are adults and who have children themselves. So we have 13 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
DG: That series of events certainly changed your life. Please tell us next about your years after relocating to New Jersey, and how your spiritual work there progressed.
In 1979, I joined a meditation group that met on Sunday evenings. We did a few prayers together, then sat in silence until the appointed time. After the meditation, we sat around the kitchen table, drank tea and talked about what we might have gotten. In that group, I learned a prayer that fits all situations. It goes: “Our Father-Mother God, We see back of these conditions the truth, and we will hold to the truth, that Thou wilt see that these conditions will be worked out for the best interest of all and in true conformity with the Great Divine Plan.” Around this same time, we also started attending the Mullica Hill Friends Meeting (Quaker or Religious Society of Friends) and became members fairly soon. One thing I have noticed about Quakers, at least the ones we know, is that they are open to any experiences anyone has. They may not join in, but do accept what anyone says as truth to that person.
Coming to Malaga also meant that I became part of the American Vegan Society, since Roshan's brother Jay and his wife, Freya, started and ran it. We lived next door to them. Jay died in 2000 and Freya has run the Society since, with help from us and others. A vegan, by the way, is one who does not eat or use anything from any animals. For readers who are interested, the website for The American Vegan Society is: www.americanvegan.org.
DG: You’re quite involved in healing, as part of your service work. Can you tell us a little of your background in this field?
In 1980, I took a class in “Touch for Health.” I learned that with this method, we had four different ways to make corrections, or do the healing. I learned about kinesiology, pressure points, neuro-vascular holding points on the head, and magnetic spins. I took the advanced classes and the practice sessions. When I took my healing class, I thought, “Oh, boy, now I can do healing for everyone.” I soon found out that it doesn't work that way. Gradually, I learned some things to check before doing any healing with anyone. I learned to ask my spirit guide and the other person's spirit guide these questions: 1. If I am the one to do healing for this person. 2. If this person is supposed to have healing done. 3. If this is the right time for healing for this person. (Sometimes the person has a lesson to learn from the problem.) 4. I also came to the conclusion that a healing, in which the person to receive the healing isn't involved, is not necessarily a permanent one (one that carries into following lifetimes). Experimenting with things I learned in this class, I discovered a method in which I could get “yes” and “no” answers to questions I asked of the spirit world. I was able to get many questions answered, but sometimes I couldn't get any answer. Since about 1995, I have been working with spiritual healing and other spiritual work. I use whatever method seems best for the person and for the problem of the moment. I usually ask the guides in question. I often do healing work on past lives, when the problem started in one or more past lives.
DG: Lois, why do you think you, personally, have been able to receive messages of importance, etc. from an early age? Is there something specific in your makeup, perhaps, that allows this to occur, such as genes, heredity, etc.? Or is this something people “learn” to do?
I think everyone has something that they are supposed to do in life. Everyone is different. There is a reason for me to know and receive the messages I get. There are many Quakers, and others, who get messages also. It is not new with me. I am just led to use it in a way that others don't, because of what I am supposed to do. In the late 1970’s, my husband, Roshan, took me to New York for a Buddhist initiation ceremony. I was going to take the first initiation. I decided that I didn't want a physical guru (teacher), I wanted one in spirit. Maybe that is one reason why I get messages and information from spirit.
DG: Our organization is called TRIUNE OF LIGHT, and the energy of Light is an essential component of our work. You use Light in your healing work and have said that it works well for persons who cannot easily accept the energies of Love. Can you explain what you mean by this and why this is the case?
I have found that in healing, when a person cannot accept Love, they can usually accept Light, because it can feel differently. Some people cannot accept Love, or anything that feels like Love. Many times, this is because they have received a mistaken identity of Love. When something is called Love, but is more controlling, the person won't accept the energy or power that goes with it. In that case, it is better to use Light.
DG: We initially met each other through our mutual work in the Theosophical Society and the Theosophical Order of Service (TOS), when I was its Peace Department Director. What drew you to joining us as a co-worker in TRIUNE, and what purpose does it fill in your life to be a member of our group?
I’ve been a member of the Theosophical Society of America since 1957. I was interested in the things you published in the TOS magazine, when you were the Peace Department Director. I was interested in many of the things that were in the magazine then. I thought that it was deeper than the way the TOS is now. Yes, the TOS now does some very important work, but it could be deeper. I had wanted to personally meet you from before you left the TOS, but it never happened. When you organized TRIUNE, I was interested, even though I didn't react immediately. I have been a Light Worker for many years. There are a few – very few – people or groups that understand what that means. There may be other “occult” groups, but I haven't found one that I could do as much for, or with, as TRIUNE OF LIGHT.